Microsoft Office Tutorials for Adults in Ratoath, Co. Meath and surrounding areas. DeGeekIT “Grinds for Grown Ups” will help you learn just what you need to use Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook… Quickly! Get personalised bespoke training in your … Read More

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Pre-Christmas Device Setup and Configuration Have you ever been in that situation where you receive a shiny new present for Christmas, but don’t know how to set it up? Wouldn’t it be nice to just open the box and start … Read More

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Cleaning up a computer and preventing unnecessary applications from running.

Cleaning up a computer

At the very start of this article I mention that it’s not really age that makes a computer slow. More than anything it is a build up of files and applications that are stored or run unnecessarily. You could think of these files as “digital dust”. There are no shortage of cleaning up utilities available to download online so I won’t re-write what so many others have done justice to. However, do make sure you use reputable apps. Windows 10 does a fairly good job of keeping itself clean and tidy, but there are many things that you can look out for yourself such as:

Clearing browser caches

Deleting temporary files

Preventing unnecessary start-up applications from loading

Scanning a Hard Disk for errors and Defragging.

If these basic steps still leave you unhappy with your computer speed, then the chances are that something slightly more serious is impeding its performance.

DeGeekIT can help you identify the root of your computer performance problems and help you identify the best solution. If you do need to buy a new computer or component, talk to us first and find out what’s best for your needs. Empower yourself! Spending a bit of time and money with DeGeekIT will help prevent you from wasting money on poor computer purchases! Contact us today!

Dust Heat – Warm and Cosy, but not not good for computers.

Computer performance can be affected by so many factors, but one that you don’t hear about so often is simple dust heat!

Dust heats up and slows down computers

If you ever stop to listen to your desktop computer or laptop, you’ll usually hear a quiet fan or two whirring away. You may also notice that they’re quite a bit noisier than they were when you bought the computer.

Why do computers have fans?

Computers have fans to provide heat dissipation from components in the machine that would otherwise get too hot. When a component overheats, it slows down or sometimes burns out. The fans either blow cool air into the machine, or more often, suck heat out of the machine. In a well-built machine, all open air vents and fans are covered with filters.

Because of the constant air flow, they act like vacuum cleaners and clog up with dust. Once clogged, the machine gets less air flow and gets hotter inside. This slows it down and increases the risk of damage to a component. Inevitably, some dust gets inside the machine and if you’ve got pets… dog and cat hair can be regular battle, damaging fans or stopping them spinning efficiently.

So what do I do to prevent my computer overheating?

Monitoring temperatures for heat problems

Prevention is always better than cure. Keep your computer in a clean and relatively dust free location. Gently clean with a vacuum cleaner around the air vents (with the cleaner on a low power setting if possible). Filters can often be removed and washed or replaced.

Be very careful if you decide to clean inside the machine. Static electricity on your body, cleaning cloth or vacuum can easily fry many of the chips in your computer. Always earth yourself or get someone to do the job who is comfortable with the inner workings of a computer.

DeGeekIT can help you identify the root of your computer performance problems and help you identify the best solution. If you do need to buy a new computer or component, talk to us first and find out what’s best for your needs. Empower yourself! Spending a bit of time and money with DeGeekIT will help prevent you from wasting money on poor computer purchases! Contact us today!

Network, WiFi, Internet Connection

Many times these days when somebody says that they’ve got a slow computer, the root cause is not actually the computer itself at all. Whether you’re shopping on Amazon, eBay, DoneDeal or Groupon, watching a movie on Netflix, or even reading your gMail, they’re all “in the cloud”. This is just industry jargon for them running on servers on the Internet, not locally on your computer, tablet or smart phone. They depend on your local network or WiFi performance, and Internet connection.

Internet Connection Testing

Regardless how fast your iPhone, PC, Mac, or iPad are, nothing that relies on the Internet will be fast if your home network, WiFi or Internet Connection are slow. Unfortunately, there is a huge variance in the availability of high speed broadband in Ireland. You may have heard of the “digital divide”, well it is all too real in the green isle. Broadband providers will sell packages advertising speeds “up to” a particular speed, but many of them cannot supply anywhere close to the named speed. If you only have access to copper based phone lines and happen to be too far away from the local exchange, you may only be able to get very slow speeds.

Upload Speed

The advertised speeds often only mention the “download” speed and neglect to mention the very important “upload” speed. If you want to make an internet phone or video call over tools like FaceTime, Skype, WhatsApp you need a respectable upload or upstream speed too. If you want to upload photos or videos to Facebook, that too requires upload bandwidth. Some of the technology used by Internet Service Providers (ISP) like Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) does not fully allow for full duplex connections, or simultaneous bidirectional traffic. This means that if you upload a video over your 1Mbps* upload bandwidth, your 15Mbs download speed is slashed too. (*mega bits per second)

In other cases, bandwidth is shared between subscribers. The more people near you that are using the same provider, the slower your connection becomes.

Understanding what the real options are for Internet connections near you is important before you get stuck in a contract. If Fibre broadband is available where you live, it is a very good choice in most circumstances. Thankfully, fibre rollout is happening across the country and is starting to reach more and more remote areas.

diagnosing-WiFi-issues

WiFi Performance

Even if your Internet connection is solid, your experience online can be dramatically slowed down by poor WiFi performance, configuration or a broadband router that is struggling. Conflicting signals, poor range and electronic noise can all impact the network performance. All these can produce that horrible spinning “buffering” signal in your movie or Spotify playlist.

Identifying the cause of your slow network or online experience takes a bit of time. You may need to survey your network to pinpoint the bottlenecks. Before investing in a new router, or signing up to a new ISP, it’s a good idea to talk to someone knowledgeable in the art. It may just be that another device on your network is using bandwidth without you knowing! When it comes to your internet connection, talking to your neighbours about what works for them, can also be very useful.

Monitoring network usage

DeGeekIT can help you identify the root of your computer performance problems and help you identify the best solution. If you are changing Internet Provider or WiFi Router, call us first and find out what’s best for your needs. Empower yourself! Spending a bit of time and money with DeGeekIT will help prevent you from wasting money on poor computer purchases! Contact us today!

About Us

DeGeekIT was founded in Ratoath, Ireland, by a dad with over 20 years of technology and support experience after his son became ill and he became a full time carer. Meeting local families on the school run made him realise that so many people struggle with the technology that they own, and their kids often race ahead of the parents. He created DeGeekIT with the hope of helping people to get the most out of their Gadgets.